That Decaying Creation
by June Dune
Summary: Shadow can easily believe he's invincible and immortal. He's endured dangers that any normal person, even Sonic, could be killed from. But, five years later, when his world is turned entirely up on its head, Shadow is forced to ask the question: Can conquerable, mortal man really create an immortal machine invincible and unaffected by the world?
1. Coma

**"Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts...perhaps the fear of a loss of power."**

**-John Steinbeck**

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><p>Shadow blinked for a second, sensing himself coming to. Finally, the blurs separated and distinct forms were made out clearly in his vision. At the sight, he grimaced. The surroundings were unfamiliar, the scents were strange to him, and the feeling he had wasn't a good one. He resisted asking questions aloud, as he learned his lesson before when he had amnesia. He had to figure this one out in his head.<p>

He took a small whiff of the air and could barely keep himself from gagging. His eyes caught the hazy trails of smoke precipitating at the ceiling, and the hedgehog determined that that was the source of the horrific smell. From what he could tell so far, it didn't seem poisonous but just utterly revolting.

Realizing now that he was sitting, he attempted to get up. A sharp clink echoed throughout the dank room. Chains?

In fact, chains were wrapped around his wrists and ankles, restricting any movement but an occasional shifting of the seat. His grimace became more defined on his muzzle. So he was a prisoner here? All hope of being somewhere safe was out of the question. Then again, that had already went out the figurative window when he had nearly choked on the smoke.

Every so often, his vision blurred, and he quickly debated as to what it was. A drug? Probably. He never was bleary-eyed when he came back into consciousness. Maybe for a few seconds but never this long after he came to. The black and red hedgehog carefully lifted his gloved hand to touch his forehead, massaging it gently against his temple in an attempt to refocus. Whoever or whatever gave him this drug must've injected it into him not very long ago. Usually, foreign chemicals would pass through or be dispersed by the Ultimate Lifeform's body before they did any real effect on him.

Shadow sneered to himself as he tried to gain more info on where he was and most importantly, how he got here. His memory, like his vision, seemed foggy at the moment, and the familiar, empty feeling of memory loss started to irritate him. Something must've happened...how it occurred wasn't entirely clear to him. How could he get captured without so much as a struggle?

Perhaps he did struggle; perhaps he did not. Time was something that he couldn't grasp as well. He didn't know how many hours transpired while he was in here, or maybe it was only a few seconds after he was placed here. Shadow tugged violently at the chains and growled. His restraints dug into his skin, and when the hedgehog attempted to use his muscles to further put strain on them, his limbs felt unfamiliar and weak as if he were trying on a new body. Quickly, he tried to call upon Chaos energy to break his chains, but the only effect was more fatigue on his mind and body.

"Blast it..."

He felt drained, somehow, of physical energy as if he had pushed his body to maximum power just recently. Shadow could sense no Chaos energy lingering there for him to use. If the smoke in the room was Chaos energy, he'd have a quite an abundance to use right now. Alas, that wasn't the case.

"Blast it!" the Ultimate Lifeform bellowed, yanking at his chains. As soon as his temper flared, it disappeared and he soon was cursing himself. Anger wasn't going to help anything and would most likely deplete the little energy he had left. His eyes scanned the room for a weapon, for a pin or needle, for anything. All he could see was thick layers of dust and statuesque figures of dust bunnies in the lonely corners of the drab, concrete gray room.

Finally, his crimson eyes fell upon his hands, which he knew were right now too weak to snap the inferior devices. But the familiar gleam of gold underneath the musty, rusting clasps caught his sight, and instantly he knew. His inhibitor rings...

Shadow was normally cautious about opening them, as they gave him power to eliminate nearly everything in his sight. But this was a special case; the snapping of those gold rings would certainly fill his energy for the time being. How to break them was the question...

The giant steel door lined with rust creaked and then was swung open to the hit the concrete wall, the noise loudly bouncing off across the room. Instantly Shadow's trademark steely-eyed glare came into position towards the flat, dark figure that wandered haphazardly into the room.

It was a human.

Normally, Shadow would've just assumed it was a gang member, but there was an air to the individual that seemed professional. Casual but still knowing what he was doing. With him were a rifle and a cigarette, oddly balancing each other out. The man wore a soldier's uniform- -Shadow started- -_G.U.N.'s _uniform, except that the logo was marked off with a large white star spray-painted on there. The man, his helmet concealing his eyes, pulled up a foldable metallic chair, set it up, and sat down in it casually, waving the source of the smog around precariously.

"So, I see that you've awakened," the man said, voice smooth and indolent, as he puffed a ring of smoke into the air.

Shadow blankly stared back. "I don't think G.U.N. is going to be very happy with your marking over their pretty little uniform."

The guard laughed nonchalantly and put out his cigarette. "Ah, already a G.U.N. loyalist, I see," he answered dryly, "I wonder if they programmed that into you from the start."

"So, what are you going to do? Interrogate me?"

"Pretty much," the man grabbed blindly at his gun, "Boss wants to know who our captive really is and I'm the guy to find out."

The Ultimate Lifeform shot back, "Well, isn't that quite obvious who you have captive here? Don't the red and black markings give a blasted hint? I thought my name was pretty well-known around G.U.N."

"Oh, don't worry, the name is famous around this place, too," the man assured with a chuckle, "Just not in the good sense. We ain't no G.U.N." Stroking his chin covered by his helmet, he gestured to Shadow, "But that's not important. We want to know who _you_ are and where you came from. So get talking, duplicate."

Shadow blinked, then glared. "Duplicate? What on Mobius are you insinuating? You have every piece of information on me probably stolen from G.U.N.'s databanks. You know everything about my past."

"That's where you're wrong, buddy. We don't know anything about _you_," he said as calmly as could be, "Who are you?"

This man was seriously getting on his nerves.

"Who do you _think_ I am? I'm Shadow the freakin' _Hedgehog_!"

His captor chuckled darkly, slipping his hands behind his head.

"Nice try, but the _real_ Shadow the Hedgehog died years ago in a battleship accident. We're tryin' to find out why you're impersonating him."

"I've had enough of your blasted- -wait...what?" The revelation hit Shadow like a ton of bricks, and his crimson eyes revealed the shock, blinking as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. That couldn't be possible...it wasn't! How could he have died and have no memory of it? He ran his gloved hands through his night black and red spines, his mind racing with the possibilities. Memories and past experiences of amnesia were beginning to haunt him again...

Then, he assumed his trademark stance, recovering quickly his angry demeanor. "I don't believe it."

"Well, we were considering you were an android like so many other copies of Shadow are," the cloaked man suggested, tipping his rifle up to meet Shadow's black nose, "And all androids are immediately destroyed. Perhaps we were right with our theory...?"

The black hedgehog smacked the gun away, and, glaring into the man's hidden eyes, demanded, "Where's the leader of this faction anyway? I'd like to speak to him about this."

"No need to get antsy. It seems you'll have to wait a bit longer to have your questions answered; Boss is on a mission right now," the man said chillily, leaning back in his seat and withdrawing the weapon. He then got up, the chair uttering an eerily creaky noise as it scraped against the concrete. "Now, I'll be back soon; just gotta get another cig. I can trust you to stay here now, can I?"

The teasing of the man followed him all the way up as he stood up and was about to make his journey to the door.

Instantly, the man fell to the floor, having been tripped by a jet shoe that Shadow had lashed out. In his shock, the guard had dropped his gun and let it skitter a few feet away from him. The Ultimate Lifeform saw this as his chance. He lunged for the weapon just not far off, fingertips almost reaching the sleek holster of it, until the chains snapped back against his wrists and ankles brutally.

He tried further to snatch the gun, but it was all in futility because his captor finally stole it back, pointing it at the hedgehog and laughing. "Sly one, ain't ya? You're dangerous, almost like the real one was. Now sit down in your seat." Shadow was forced to sit down, glaring mutinously at the oppressor. Once he was back in his seat, the man left with a sigh. On his way out, Shadow could hear, "I'm gonna make sure that they execute you nice and slow, android."

The door slammed shut, and Shadow slumped in his seat, tightening and loosening his grip on the chains. This was getting ridiculous.

Perhaps he should wait and speak to the leader?

Shadow dismissed the notion with an indignant scoff.

Unless the leader was someone he knew or would actually inform him on his so-called 'death'- -which to him was highly unlikely- -then this was a complete and utter waste of time. His best bets were to find Rouge and Omega to hear the real story; G.U.N. always had the files of agents on hand, so if Shadow truly died, then the record of this important event would definitely be in there.

Rouge and Omega...where were they now? It was years later, at least, if the man was telling the truth. Most likely they were in the same place as usual: G.U.N. He still grimaced, displeased with his answer. But if he had supposedly "died", wouldn't they have...?

"Let's get back to the interrogatin', android," the deep, raspy voice called as the sentry made his way back into the room with his gun and a new piping hot cigar, "And this time, I ask the questions."

Shadow rolled his eyes to set off his foe.

"What do you last remember?"

He didn't want to respond, but images flew through his head. Attempting to identify the most current one, he could not find it. At least, the one that was supposedly years old. "You know what I remember, so why are you asking?" the Ultimate Lifeform only answered casually.

The man groaned. "Smart aleck. G.U.N. really got your personality down when they cloned you. Honestly, why are there more than one of you in existence...?"

"How do you know it was G.U.N. that cloned me and not the Doctor?" Shadow shot back, red eyes calculating.

The man opened his mouth, about to respond, until he stopped himself and laughed. "Nice try, but I'm the one getting the answers around here," he said with a tone of hostility.

"Really? We must be seeing different things because I see this conversation circulating and going nowhere."

A sudden crash sounded, and Shadow was forced nose to nose with the sentry. From this close, he could see the vague outline of glaring eyes through the helmet's visor. "Look, buddy, we haven't got all day. You're nothing but a piece of cloned garbage in this world. If it were up to me, I would've just shot you and got on with it."

Stoic, the black hedgehog maintained eye contact and ever-so-slightly raised a gloved hand. The man grasped his foe's wrist. "Why don't you do it then?" Shadow asked grimly.

"'Cause it's not my place to do so," was the response. Putrid cigar smoke was blowing heavily into the hedgehog's face, and Shadow turned his head away and yanked hard his hand from the man's grip. At the same time, the interrogator spoke. "Let me tell you something... If you don't cooperate here, Boss is going to come back mighty upset. Then you'll be in some real trouble." The man sneered, hatred flickering in his half-covered face, as if the thought pleased him. "Torture is not out of the question for us, y'know, if it gets us the answers. We'll enjoy doing it to something like you."

"Well, it looks like you're going to have to give them some more upsetting news then," Shadow led on. He looked at his wrist, the one that the man had grabbed, and his foe followed his gaze. The force had broken the rusty chains...as well as one of his inhibitor rings. "Some cheap chains you've got there, huh?"

Instantly, the man was blown out the room in a blinding explosion, yelping in agony and sinking to the floor when he hit the back wall.

Grimly, Shadow stood up from his seat, using the Chaos radiating through him to melt the other chains as well as the other inhibitor rings. Energy coursed through him like a refreshing river, and he fought a smirk. Now he was glowing brilliantly, empowered and ready.

He exited the room and picked up the man's gun but then thought better and discarded it. Why would he need a mere weapon made by man when he had his own power at his disposal?

"It's the Shadow clone! It's escaped!"

The shouts he heard he deduced were other soldiers like the one he had interacted with. Of course they would notice something that looked like a moving nightlight on steroids. Shadow sprinted the other way. With his Chaos Energy fully released, he was able to skate down faster the corridors than he normally would.

He passed by hallways and rooms in a blur. Rows and rows of black weapons crates he noticed along the way; they were decorated with the same symbol over the letters G.U.N. that the man wore proudly on his uniform. So they also smuggled G.U.N.'s weapons as well. He would definitely have to ask the Commander about this later.

Piercing sirens sounded throughout the halls, and he was reminded of the present situation. He continued to skate and did his best to avoid the crowds of similar soldiers wearing the symbol. This must've been a base of some kind- -and a large one at that because the rooms went on forever in number it seemed.

Metallic, bolted doors began to close automatically at the sound of the alarms. Shadow winced but pushed on through the closed-off entryways. As expected, they melted away like butter, but he slowly felt his energy decreasing.

Was his seemingly ever-plentiful amount of Chaos Energy running out?

Gunshots rang out when he burst into another door. An ambush. He swore. Damage to his normally impervious armor wasn't going to help things. The small army started to close in on him, pelting him with bullets. Shadow reached to the peak of anger and power, crimson light taking over.

"Chaos Blast!"

Bodies flew back from the potent scarlet wave of Chaos, smacking into walls and allowing a clear path. The surge of energy he had seconds before now disintegrated. His supply was perilously low.

Another wave of soldiers entered, and Shadow cursed himself again. If he took the time to try and find the exit of this base, then his Chaos form would fade, he would pass out, and he would be back to square one. Calling upon his last element of energy, he cried, "Chaos Control!"

Normally, this move was used to transport him a few feet away, usually behind an opponent. But this wasn't what Shadow decided to use. He glowed a stunning blue, ignoring the shots, and flew past the army at blinding speed. Forget hallways and rooms moving like a blur, images changed in his vision at a fraction of a second. Not even bothering to navigate through the base, the hedgehog plunged forward. He felt a hazy sense of objects crashing into him, but the speed he was at prevented him from feeling any pain.

One second before Shadow's eyes it was dark and musty; the next was blinding light, and then a building in a snow white sky. At seeing such a different image, he lost focus and power, turning back into normal and smashing straight into said building.

He growled weakly as he threw off the rubble; luckily it seemed that there was nothing in the building itself except dust. His limbs quaked and his vision was blurry. He stepped gradually out the building and took in the sight of a white cloudy sky with skyscrapers stretching into the air.

Central City.

It had been years since he last saw it.

Supposedly.

"After all the junk I've been through, I deserve some blasted straightforward answers," he growled softly, bringing himself to his feet and taking his first step onto the sidewalk.

But were things ever straightforward for Shadow the Hedgehog?

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><p><strong>So, the next story has finally begun! I'm just getting back into this, so a favorite, follow, PM, comment, andor review about this would really do wonders. Thanks!**

**-JD**


	2. Blasted Sci-Fi Movies

**Wow, thanks for the awesome feedback! I'm very thankful for all of it, and I assure you that I will continue this.**

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><p>As the Ultimate Lifeform, worn and weary, made his way out of the building, he questioned where exactly he just came from. He couldn't find a trail of buildings he had created large holes through, so it must've been somewhere underground. It was logical since the place had smelled moist and particularly not inviting. He probably could find the hole he had made and enter the base through that way. <em>Whatever<em>, he thought while scanning the back alleyways of Central City he was in, _it's not like they're going to come up and try to get me again anyway_.

He closed up all his inhibitor rings, ridding his wrists and ankles of the chains that hindered him. Though he had used up nearly his whole natural Chaos supply, he still was on his feet. But he was growing haggard.

How the ex-G.U.N. gang did obtain him in the first place Shadow did not know, and honestly, at this point, Shadow did not care. He guessed he would have to go through town and get to G.U.N. headquarters. It was the only solid lead he had going then.

Rain began to assail Shadow's black pelt, which was already ragged and hideous enough. Anger coursed through him as his limbs barely cooperated in holding up his body. He was not going to put up with this load of garbage today. Not today.

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><p>So the Ultimate Lifeform didn't deal with the load of garbage that was handed to him and decided to just hail a taxi in the city and chalk it up to the fact that nobody would've done any different. A dreadfully frightening time it was for the poor taxi driver who drove Shadow downtown and had to endure his murderous glower in the mirror.<p>

Once Shadow reached downtown and hopped out of the taxi, the yellow car was gone in an instant, exceeding the speed limit to get in safe distance. Perhaps it was a poor choice to get a ride, especially if the fact that he was dead was true.

Oh, well.

The black hedgehog stayed unswervingly under the shops' awnings to avoid the pouring sheets of rain as he walked. He observed the familiar skyscrapers and large amounts of scrambling pedestrians. Their heads were aimed at the ground and their minds elsewhere. That was good; he didn't necessarily want to cause a scene as a supposed dead hedgehog walking.

He took notice that everything seemed to be the same since he last remembered it. Though it was highly illogical, a small part of him expected flying cars and holograms attached to every technological device since it was supposedly "years later." Curse Rouge for making him see all those sci-fi movies.

Shadow stopped. And he remembered those movies and not what had happened to him? Now he felt like ripping apart a Transformer.

He continued with the stream of the crowd as calm white clouds continued to hang over the hectic humdrum of the capital Central City. In a way, Shadow had missed this place. Quickly, he shook his head. Why was he acting like he hadn't been here in so long? It wasn't really true that he was killed, was it? Though he kept bringing it up in his head, he never assumed it was true or even partially accurate. The Ultimate Lifeform couldn't die by any mere act of violence; he was immortal.

But the man did say it was in a battleship where he took his last breath. And it was an accident. Which only made it more embarrassing. Nothing could've just accidentally killed him, and Shadow would never accidentally allow someone to kill him or drop his defenses just enough for someone to do that. In his mind, there was no possibility.

And even if he died, he was recovered years later- -how many he did not find out. It could've been two, three, or even ten years since his death. But why would he be revived now of all times? If he had really died in a battleship, how did those people recover him?

The words from the previous conversation instantly echoed through Shadow's head.

_We want to know who you are._

_ The real Shadow the Hedgehog died years ago._

_ What do you last remember?_

_ Who are you?_

_ Get talking, duplicate._

Shadow shook his head as if to clear them. Blast it, he tried to remember the past events prior to this, but all that came up was the stupid altercation he had with that idiot soldier. Still, he couldn't help but feel déjà vu. It seemed like the events of the Black Arms all over again. At the thought of those memories, he clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into the gloved palms of his hands. Hatred filled his red eyes, and he promptly fixed them on the ground ahead as he trudged on.

Shadow hated being helpless, and that was one of the times where he was being just that. He hated amnesia, and he had just that. He had heard versions of his past from various sides- -Black Doom, G.U.N., Eggman. Confusion had been his main feeling, and there had been nothing he could do but listen to those less-than-trustworthy folk.

He brushed past a pedestrian and knocked him aside with a shoulder. Never again would he be manipulated like that.

Speaking of the less-than-trustworthy allies, he planned to go to G.U.N. headquarters, which was fortunately nearby. He needed answers, and they had the files that would inform him on his death or even if it happened. He wouldn't have to go through the corrupted, biased people to get the information he needed.

However, Shadow couldn't just walk into G.U.N. headquarters and announce his presence, although he very much would've liked to do that. Defense systems were heavy, and while Shadow could slip through them on a good day, he was not in the exact condition for a 'breaking-and-entering.'

He had to somehow enter without facing anything violent.

Shadow walked towards the direction of the G.U.N. base when his eyes caught sight of two large posters decorating a majestic-looking museum. He first read it in a monotone voice, "Sight to see. Azure Chaos Emerald exhibit on display. Witness the true beauty of a real emerald." He entered with a great throng of people, a smirk slowly appearing. "That's basically wearing a target," he muttered, "I wonder if they've had any visits from crazy, egg-shaped evil geniuses or jewel-obsessed bats?"

As expected, the main exhibit was in the front, so Shadow did not have to travel far to see the gleaming blue Chaos Emerald in its case. It was in a pure glass case on a marble stand on a pyramid of several flights of red-carpeted stairs. Around the beginning of the stairs a ruby red rope wrapped around the pyramid, setting anything beyond it off limits. He examined the lofty, pillar-adorned room casually with an impassive red gaze to see close to a couple hundred occupying the place, their boisterous voices bouncing all the way up to the ceiling. The more people, the better.

Without thinking, Shadow pushed his way to the red rope. Already, he began to experience a flow of energy emanating off of the emerald. He couldn't resist it any longer. Once the last person was shoved out of his path, he slipped under the rope and scaled the flight of stairs like it was nothing. Apparently, it seemed that many people had already noticed, as the hedgehog could hear several overdramatic gasps from the crowd. Regardless, he retracted his arm and, mustering the Chaos energy he was beginning to attain, called out.

"Chaos Spear!"

A flicker of lime green energy and a skillful throw later, the glass lay on the red-carpeted stairs shattered as Shadow grasped the blue Chaos Emerald. Instantly, he felt complete rejuvenation sink into his veins, and it caused his heart to beat fuller once more.

The crowd began to scream and fall into pandemonium until someone shouted and several soldiers piled into the museum, guns cocked and ready. "Hands in the air! We're not afraid to shoot, so drop the Chaos Emerald...Shadow?!"

Now Shadow smirked ever-so-slightly, remaining at the top of the pyramid of stairs. He held his hands up in the air nonchalantly, shining emerald beauty still in hand. "Good to see you again, G.U.N."

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><p>G.U.N. was harsh, even with its agents. So it was no surprise that once they procured Shadow, they threw him into the room of the Commander with not so much as a word to their captive.<p>

Wordlessly, the black hedgehog scanned the Commander's room; things had basically remained the same with the exception of some new books and awards of best defense. It still had a professional and intelligent air to the room as if the owner of this office was a studious scholar and not a gruff military leader. That fact never failed to amuse Shadow.

He viewed everything but the Commander until he was forced to make eye contact with his old boss. However, his boss, appearing grim as usual, did not look back at him.

Two soldiers flanked his sides and both seemed unwilling to speak much.

"Sir, we found this at the Central City Museum," one of the soldiers explained, "It...er...he...it was attempting to steal a Chaos Emerald and we stopped it."

The Commander, who was sitting at his desk the whole time, stood up from his seat at this. Gray and white hair still littered his head, but there were several spots beginning to thin out. His uniform remained spick and span, without a speck of dust lying upon it. He then stared at the soldiers disbelievingly. "That's what you call urgent?" he asked dryly.

How could Shadow ever forget his bluntness?

"But, sir, the identity of the hedgehog..."

"Is Shadow, yes. I can see that," the Commander said, finally turning his oddly-colored eyes to the hedgehog, "So you've returned, huh? You're looking as nice as usual."

Shadow only held his glare, looking unfazed by the jab. "Cut the sentimentalities. I want answers, Commander. Now."

His old boss leaned back, unsurprised. "Asking for answers in the most insolent way possible, huh? You seem to be acting normal."

"But how could he have come here? How could he have survived?" the brave soldier persisted to speak.

The questions and minute body language only deepened Shadow's dread and slowly started to confirm what he had first heard and could not believe himself.

"All in due time, we'll find out," the Commander merely answered, turning to his desk and pressing a button. He then muttered into a small speaker, "Agent Rouge to the office."

So she was still working at G.U.N. as an agent. Shadow scoffed slightly. If his death was true, then the time period between that and now could be assumed true as well.

"He should be dead! He- -he can't be here now. The way the others told about him..."

"Soldier," the Commander addressed harshly, "Leave the room. Now."

"But what if he- -?!"

A nonchalant wave of the hand interrupted the G.U.N. agent's protest. "He won't do anything. He's looking for answers as much as we are. Now leave, soldiers." Once the soldiers indeed exited, the Commander faced Shadow dourly. "What was the point of attempting to steal the Chaos Emerald? Attention?"

"Why go to G.U.N.'s base asking for answers and have to climb through all the ropes to reach you when I could just commit a felony and go straight to you? The energy boost was a plus as well."

"Classic, Agent Shadow. You're supposedly dead, I assume you've figured out. And I thought you were Project Shadow, the invincible, immortal being."

"I am," the hedgehog stated bluntly, "I highly doubt that what you assume is my death has actually happened."

"Bold words for someone who doesn't even remember what's happened to him."

Shadow clenched his fists and intensified his crimson glare. Between a three-foot amnesiac Ultimate hedgehog against a six-foot, stocky military man, the staring battle continued on for quite some time.

Then, suddenly but casually, the Commander looked down, much to the hedgehog's satisfaction. He followed the man's gaze and his eyes fell upon the exact sleek object he had seen before. "Tell me," the G.U.N. military leader said, "Can you still shoot?"

Scoffing, Shadow folded his arms as if to ask him where he was going with the topic. The gun was tossed haphazardly into the folds of his black, red-streaked arms.

"All right. Shoot then."

Without any response but a mere glare of understanding, Shadow's arms spread apart, allowing him to grasp the gun as it fell. The air turned quite tense. He swiveled to the doorway and held the sleek, night black weapon in one hand. It was a simple pistol, but anything that was owned by G.U.N. always had a technological appearance that was superior to everything. He fingered the smooth trigger carefully, the glossy sheen of the holster gleaming menacingly in his eyes.

An internal tremor slipped down his spine. Nothing outwardly showed any sign of his reluctance, except the lengthy amount of time he was taking. He neither shook nor trembled, yet the natural beat of his system kept snagging on something about the look of the weapon.

For some reason, the gun taunted him, and Shadow fought to understand why.

"Any day now," came the flat voice of his old boss. He was mocking him.

His vision refocused, a sigh silently escaped him, and his grimace deepened.

A perfect shot at the center of the door.

If it hadn't swung open.

Shadow had barely enough time to recover and escape from the zone of his concentration, swearing in his head as he fumbled his hold on the G.U.N. pistol. He remained in his hunched-over position, his hold on the gun tightening, and kept his line of sight on the floor.

He could hear a mature, feminine voice ring in somewhat hesitantly, "You wanted me, Commander- -?" The sentence hitched abruptly. "Shadow?!"

The hedgehog only looked up to meet the teal wide-eyed gaze of a white bat at the edge of the door, her mouth agape. He straightened himself and dropped the pistol, folding his arms up once again, as if it were his go-to for comfort. His eyes never left the bat's eyes, which seemed to be a mix of shock and frustration. He then heard a flat, commanding voice break the silence.

"I know this was on such short notice, Agent Rouge, but I'd like you to meet your old comrade again, Agent Shadow, who is coming back for more. I hope you two can play more nicely this time around."

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><p><strong>Please tell me what you think; I appreciate all feedback, especially constructive criticism. Thanks!<strong>

**-JD**


	3. Enter: Great O

**I really need to get a regular schedule for this story. :P To those who are hopefully still following this, I will try to get another chapter up in a couple of weeks. I have plans for a Christmas-related story during December and many other stories, but I will try to update this one as frequently as possible as well because things here will get good pretty soon.**

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><p>Nevertheless, a rather heated conversation ensued between Rouge and the Commander. Not a word was directed to Shadow, much to his annoyance. A few more clever remarks were exchanged, and, before a fierce row could start, the Commander finally called in a soldier to 'kindly escort Shadow out the room.'<p>

So basically, he had gotten kicked out.

Immediately, after the Commander's doors closed behind him, he yanked his arm mutinously away from the G.U.N. soldier, and the hedgehog stalked away.

He was at times excluded from knowledge, which he despised. But never had he been kept from listening in on an entire conversation with his teammate.

It was as if they were trying to make it excruciatingly obvious they were keeping things from him.

Shadow tromped through the hallways, noting that the exterior of the place pretty much stayed the same. A sense of dreariness yet professionalism reigned the work atmosphere. Still, as he traveled down the halls, contraptions he had not yet seen before in his life caught his eyes. What was he expecting? Technology was developing quickly before; perhaps they jumped the gap again and discovered something truly useful. And if it had to be anyone, it had to be G.U.N. that founded technological inventions. Especially potentially dangerous ones. That was all part of working in a militaristic government group.

He stopped unexpectedly, then swore. "Stop assuming." These words, spoken to himself, were the brutal reminders to make him realize that he was simply accepting. He had done it before, and that certainly didn't go well. He couldn't assume anything they were telling him was true, not even that it might be years ahead of when he had last seen this place.

Shadow had to be sure. And the only things that he was completely sure of were himself and his senses. He couldn't trust anyone else lest he fell into their traps of lies.

He didn't know where his feet were taking him while he wandered down the corridors and passed by agents who paid no more than a second glance to him. He felt he should turn back until something in one of the larger, whiter, more spotless rooms made him stop.

"Omega?"

The robot seemed to be swarmed by scientists, who chattered in hush, low voices. Yet still their conversations filled the otherwise silent room quite noticeably. They were the only ones there along with several advanced machine that lined the walls and touched the ceilings. What appeared to be experimental weapons hung in glass cases by the computers and excess technology.

At the hedgehog's voice, Omega's red eyes glowed, and his small head tilted up as if to detect where it came from.

"Shadow?"

Apparently, the scientist viewed this question as some oddity and they looked amongst themselves, questioning, before they parted like the Red Sea when Shadow walked towards the hulking arsenal.

Upon closer inspection, wires snaked around Omega's open compartments, and his central circuits laid bare. "Experimenting on something?" Shadow noted casually.

This question was directed at Omega, so none of the scientists made a peep, too busy in resuming their work to really notice. "Weapons, Shadow creature."

_Now_ Omega was adding the 'creature' part to the hedgehog's name because he knew for sure who it was.

"Oh, really? I thought it would've been baking," Shadow responded quite sarcastically.

"Negative, these fleshy creatures have been working on these." With that, Omega lifted up his large cannon-like arms. The claw-like hands shifted inside to leave two gaping holes, and a strange whirring noise came from them, gradually increasing in volume, as a light began to flicker within the holes.

Shadow's eyes widened.

He was smart and barely quick enough to leap out of the way before two huge lasers burst from the robot's arms, which emitted loud, high-pitched squeals. Deafening crumbling and garbled shouts and screams erupted in his ears for a brief moment. Then all sound ceased and Shadow climbed to his feet.

"Laser cannons. New addition. Glorious, is it not?"

A sense of panic flashed through Shadow and he looked behind him where Omega shot. The whole wall that was holding up hi-tech computers, which held massive amounts of data, was completely eradicated, a giant hole gaping in its place. Massive amounts of money from G.U.N. would have to go through in order to replace that advanced of investigational technology.

Well. At least no one was annihilated.

"It's nice," Shadow chose his words, enough to make the robot start.

"Nice? That is all your inferior mind thinks?" Omega asked, sensing that this was a challenge and taking a mechanical step forward . The wires held on to E-123's crimson and black armor plates for dear life. The scientists' voices increased in volume, pleading almost and placing their hands on his armor to push the robot back.

"I mean," the black hedgehog continued casually, "It's great. If that's all you have after some odd years since we've last talked."

Omega's red eyes flared more brilliantly, seeming to display an almost uncanny sense of exuberance. "Negative. I have acquired many more weapons since. You will certainly not be disappointed. In fact, your fleshy mind will burst."

"In your sleep mode, maybe."

While some could only utter a few words to the Ultimate Lifeform in the past (and cower in fear, or so Shadow liked to think) and would view this as strange, Shadow didn't know how to greet Omega with anything but a sparring match. It certainly catered to E-123's destructive tendencies and the hedgehog's urge for a better opponent.

The scientists could not hold their experiment any longer, and so all of them fled the room immediately to get out of dodge. They were smart enough to cower in fear in the other room, not where they could be put in danger and get obliterated by a laser cannon.

Omega then tore off the wires like they were nothing, and, probably from an internal command, the open compartments that revealed important internal circuits shut instantly. Shadow stood at the ready, fists raised while his mouth quirked slightly upwards.

"Prepare to see your fleshy brain cells all over the walls from your utter awe soon."

Shadow glared back. "You won't impress me, much less land a hit on me, Omega."

And from that point on, no words were to be exchanged, only bullets and blows.

The robot switched his laser cannons to machine guns, the clicks echoing in the now deathly silent room, and shifted them towards the hedgehog. Shadow sprinted clockwise as the internal triggers were pulled, penny-sized holes in the ground trailing after him.

Omega couldn't spin his torso fast enough, and Shadow was able to land a swift kick to the legs. The robot collapsed, throwing his hands up in defense against the Chaos Spears thrown mercilessly at him. Shadow grimaced. Omega's outer armor must've gotten a major overhaul in Chaos defense; compared to his battles in the past, his Spears dealt minimal damage to his opponent's hull.

He had to find a weak point.

Before he could locate the area to stab, two machine guns blocked his vision. So now Omega had resorted to his programming. Shadow barely leapt back to escape the first round that punched itself into the linoleum ceiling. He spun around, once, twice, and flung himself behind a row of computer equipment, effectively wrecking half of the machines. Wincing, he scanned his side in a brief manner and noted the blood welling from the his new wound. His ego had been shot as well as his side. So much for remaining unscathed.

"Hiding, Shadow creature?"

Robots didn't have much inflections in their voice chips to help differentiate between their emotions, but Shadow swore Omega was mocking him. The sound of heavy, decided steps came nearer and nearer to his hiding spot, almost as if the robot knew where he was but just wanted to prolong it.

Yep, he was definitely mocking him.

Once Omega's clawed foot came into Shadow's peripheral vision, the hedgehog spun on him and struck with a calculated Chaos Spear. Triumph surged through him as the blow was well-aimed, digging between the upper half and the lower half, where the gears turned and helped Omega to maneuver his entire torso. His weakness.

Sparks flew in the hedgehog's face, but that didn't hinder him from driving it further into the central circuits. Chaos energy was literally crackling at his fingertips as Shadow summoned another Spear and ripped it through the hinges of his opponent's legs before the robot had the chance to let loose his newly-added laser cannons. Luckily, Shadow saw it coming and rolled out of the way. He didn't dare stay any farther from Omega; he didn't want this to turn into another chase.

Out of natural battle instincts or perhaps out of watching several western movies, the fighting stopped and they merely circled each other, sizing each other up with their eyes. Mostly, they were evenly matched; only strategy would give one of them the upper hand against the other.

No animosity lay between them, no true hostility, only respect.

The sparks flew from Omega and the blood dripped from Shadow, both opponents without tools to use except what was in their original design.

Literally, no G.U.N. agent in the building could stand up to Shadow without their guns and ammunition and a tank to hide behind. Sharpshooter training and beating up sandbags disguised as the enemy was nice and all, but Shadow desired something physically perilous to fight against, something that could match him tic for tac. Maybe that was why he liked to race with Sonic years ago. Because there was actually competition.

The black hedgehog already could feel his internal systems at work with his wound, which was slowly being mended back together. However, the robot tottered from the injuries he sustained, noticeably off-balanced in his movements.

Yet still Omega sprang back and sent a barrage of bullets straight at Shadow, classic machine-gun style. The hedgehog zigzagged across the room, barely evading every well-shot projectile.

During this, Shadow felt himself regaining energy, both physical and Chaos. He kept his eyes trained on the robot, but it seemed E-123 was in full-blown 'destroy everything' mode. Shots were still fired accurately, but they were fired rapidly without much attention to anything but Shadow himself.

As he jumped rather slower circles compared to the previous speed of the fight around Omega, he began to conjure another shining green arrow. He needn't his inhibitor rings snapped to take down this arsenal; he had already done so many times in the past.

With lightning speed, he hurled the weapon of Chaos at his opponent's legs, succeeding once more in this tactic. Heart pulsing wildly within him, Shadow pounced with Chaos Spears in both hands and aimed straight at the robot's weak point. Omega thrust a hulking arm over his torso, effectively thwarting the attempt, much to Shadow's chagrin. It still was somewhat expected.

However, what he didn't expect was to have the robot's other arm drilled into stomach, its weapon fully reloaded.

The sound was deafening and the force so brutal that the black hedgehog was blown backwards like a kite in the whipping wind. His spine met the wall, and his feet met the floor, barely saving him from a mortifying face plant. He tried to stand up straight, but the best he could do was a hunchback stance, his hand steadfastly glued to his stomach, which was already tainted as red as his markings. Now his systems had to start the regeneration process all over again.

He didn't dare take his hand off his stomach for concern his insides would spill out; externally, his lower half probably looked like Swiss cheese from the several bullets that punched through him.

Then the realization hit him.

Omega hadn't used the new laser cannons.

He had gone _easy_ on him.

Another click was heard, and little pings were heard from tiny metal shells hitting the floor. Shadow's still-ringing ears managed to pick up the robot's methodical footsteps. Omega was going slow again, as if he knew this was going to be the result.

"As the saying goes, 'you cannot teach an old dog new tricks'," the flat voice of the robot stated.

Shadow glared as if this bugged him when in reality it only stimulated the thrill of the fight in him. If given enough time, his wounds would regenerate quickly. This was only a challenge to his mastery. To get Omega to use his extreme, Shadow would have to use his.

"I'll give that saying a whole new meaning with you," he said threateningly. His hands grasped at the golden rings at his wrists, fingers prepped to snap them at any instant.

"What are you two doing?!"

His focus was thrown off directly at the voice, his eyes searching the newly made exits for it. Once identifying the source, Shadow stood up from his posture, calmly and defiantly folding his arms, careful to cover as much of his wound as possible. Omega, who had seconds before looked like a ruthless assassin, hid his arms behind his back like a kid caught in the act of putting his hand in the cookie jar.

Rouge stalked into the room, surveying the both of them. "You could've blown this place up what with the amount of firepower Omega has now! Just 'cause you want to prove how big and strong you are does not mean you can start a fight in private G.U.N. facilities! Even you know that, Omega."

"Nice to meet you, too, Rouge," Shadow said.

"Is not she scolding us?" asked Omega.

"And you just couldn't stay in one spot, could you, Shadow?" the bat said, already on another tangent, "I had to wander all over this place to find you and that alone took well over twenty minutes!"

"Why were you trying to find the Shadow creature?" Omega asked in an attempt to not be ignored by her.

Rouge looked at the robot, then at Shadow, and sighed, stringing a hand through her wavy short head fur. "The Commander wants to see us," she said grudgingly, almost as if that were the worst possible thing that could happen.

With an air of confidence, Shadow folded his arms. "You would've had to find Omega after you found me. I just saved you time," he said evenly, "You should be thankful."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the bat growled, waving a hand, "You better get rid of that smug smirk before I wipe it right off your face."

"And how will you do that?" Shadow asked smugly, "The Ultimate Lifeform can keep whatever facial expression he may please."

Rouge rolled her eyes and simply trudged on ahead.

Shadow followed and a whirr and a click signified Omega's intrusion into the conversation. Perhaps the robot had gotten better about arguments or especially difficult bats.

"You sound frustrated."

Perhaps not.

* * *

><p>So Shadow was back in the Commander's office and left to stand at attention, awkwardly half-letting his organs spill out of his deep gash in the process. Crackles and fizzles penetrated from Omega's circuits every moment of silence each time the Commander took a breath to begin another sentence. At least he had done as much damage to Omega as the robot did to him. Rouge stood beside the black hedgehog, looking pretty ticked off and very unapproachable at that point in time.<p>

The Commander folded his arms and examined each agent, his oddly colored eyes impassive. "What took you all so long, Agent Shadow?"

Rouge looked like she wanted to respond to that question, her ear twitching with irritation.

Shadow kept his eyes on the G.U.N. leader. "While you were discussing something I wasn't supposed to know with Rouge, I found Omega, who seemed bent on destroying the weapons lab and putting bullets into my stomach after I commented on his new artillery. Then Rouge found us, and we were brought here."

He heard a click of what appeared to be anger from Omega, but he chose to ignore it.

At this story, the boss sighed and leaned back against his chair. "Years later after Agent's Shadow's disappearance and this is what comes about..." he murmured. Then his voice grew sharp and imposing, "Agents, after much thought, Team Dark is now reunited and working under G.U.N.'s orders once more."

"What?! You can't possibly be serious," Rouge exclaimed, "Omega and I have been doing great as partners for years; there's no need to mess with that by throwing in _him_ again. We don't even know how he magically came back to life, for Mobius' sake!"

"Agent Rouge, we have already discussed this. The decision is final and my mind will not be changed on the matter. The team will have a meeting tomorrow so you all will be on the same page by the time I assign you a real mission. You are dismissed, Agent Rouge."

"But—!"

"You are _dismissed_."

And that was the last note. The bat huffed and left, her shoulder roughly hitting Shadow's on the way out.

After her exit, the Commander shifted his gaze to Shadow. "And you, Agent Shadow—just get patched up." There seemed to be a little disgust at the end of that order, Shadow noted. Nevertheless, the hedgehog nodded in agreement. "Then head to the main office and they will direct you to the dorm you will be staying in. You will most likely remain there until you are situated. You're dismissed."

The hedgehog couldn't complain about that order. He would be able to get some rest and time alone in his dorm; maybe then he could reflect upon the recent events and decide on his next action. And, Ultimate Lifeform or not, being drugged and held hostage in a dank underground base, escaping with one's last bit of energy, and an hour later battling a robot with a munitions store in its arms would leave anyone exhausted. Overall, he was looking forward to being alone.

Shadow turned to leave.

"And E-123 Omega, go to the repair wing and allow them to patch you up. After that, go straight back to the weapons lab and clean up _all _the wreckage. If you break something expensive like that, you'll have to pick up its pieces."

"One specification before I am dismissed, G.U.N. leader. Shadow initiated the fight and damaged me. He helped annihilate the weapons lab as well. Take it from my honorable battle scars. I am not inferior enough to damage myself, G.U.N. leader."

Shadow stopped, hardly believing what he heard.

The Commander's voice sounded ticked. "Agent Shadow..."

Omega just threw him under the bus.

Now Shadow remembered how _much_ he loved his teammate.

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you thought about this chapter, especially about Omega's entrance. I'm willing to listen to any constructive criticism on this, nit-picky or not. Thanks!<strong>

**-JD**


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